Quantitative expression on drought magnitude and disaster intensity

Abstract. According to the calculation of wind scale and earthquake magnitude, this paper puts forward the concept of drought magnitude and disaster intensity and lays out a new method by quantitative calculation. Drought magnitude is the quantitative index that describes the scale of a drought, and disaster intensity of drought is the quantitative index to describe the loss caused by a drought. Both indices have many theoretical and practical advantages with definable concepts and simple applications; therefore they are of important practical significance.